About this project

Imagine that Fire Emblem and Disgaea had a baby, and that baby turned out to be a prodigy...

“With destructible buildings, bridge construction to create new
flanking opportunities and the ability to throw people into lava, it
sounds like Telepath Tactics may contain all that is necessary for my
tactical needs.”–Adam Smith, Rock Paper Shotgun

“The gameplay recalls Sega’s Shining Force series, mixed with a bit
of Advance Wars — as a fan of both, I definitely approve of the
direction this one’s taking!”–The Indie Games Blog

“You can smash through walls, rob the
high ground, build bridges, and lay down explosives. You can also back
your foes into undesirable puddles of stuff, like water and lava. For a
change, try flinging your best friend off a cliff.”–GameZebo

"Telepath Tactics is the first tactics game where I felt competitive in a
good way and had a great time whether I was winning or losing. I love
the use of environmental effects in TT and they've led to some
interesting land grab battles where it was more about controlling,
deforming, or transforming the maps to win than directly battling my
opponent."–Phil Tibitoski, Octodad

THE GAME

Telepath Tactics is a turn-based
tactical RPG in the tradition of Fire Emblem and Disgaea. It features a single player campaign with well-written characters embroiled in a tale of war and political intrigue, as well as 2-to-6 player multiplayer with support for hotseat play (i.e. you and your friends playing together in the same room, Super Smash Brothers style).

Telepath Tactics is being developed for Windows, Mac and Linux. Back the game at $25 or more and get early access; back at $50 to get early access to the map editor as well!

Setting

Telepath Tactics takes place in a fantasy-steampunk universe that averts
most of the tropes you're used to from these sorts of games. Magic
doesn't exist: instead, there is psionics and steam-powered technology
reliant on a volatile, crystalline substance called vibra. Cavaliers don't ride horses: they ride giant, armored praying mantises. There are
no elves, no dwarves, no goblins, no dragons: it's just humans and a few
other, entirely original sentient races (such as the shadowlings, disembodied floating heads that quite literally feed on human suffering).

Telepath Tactics takes a highly deterministic approach to combat mechanics. Attack damage is 100% predictable, and attacks always hit
unless there is some intervening factor (such as the attacker
having been blinded, or the target having some special defensive
status effect). In this regard, it is very much a game of skill
akin to chess—chance will seldom determine the outcome of a battle.

Telepath Tactics
borrows liberally from the best tactics games around to provide a wide variety of available
strategies. Throw enemies off of cliffs; push enemies into water or lava; fling friends across gaps;
set your enemies on fire; freeze
them; blind them; cripple them; stun them; use hit-and-run tactics
with cavalry and bowmen; teleport; grab item drops; stick your ranged units on
the high ground to boost their effectiveness; the list goes on and
on.

Telepath Tactics also brings
fresh new environmental manipulation mechanics to the
table. Push boulders, barrels and tables in the way to
block off certain routes; build bridges to create new routes across
water or lava; build barricades to
brunt an incoming attack; destroy walls, doors and bridges to open up or close off routes of attack; shoot through open windows; place down
explosive charges to create a trap for an unwary opponent. Telepath Tactics supports all of this and more.

The
enemy AI in Telepath Tactics is aggressive and reactive. The enemy will not just sit
around the battlefield waiting for your characters to wander into
aggro range or trigger a script—instead, the AI will actively
maneuver and seek out ways to get at your most vulnerable characters.

Telepath Tactics multiplayer comes with
22 unique character classes, each with its own strengths,
weaknesses, and battlefield roles. The single player campaign features unique, named characters based off of these classes,
each with its own custom stats and leveling schemes.

You don't have to be content with the
selection the game ships with, however. Telepath Tactics features
extensive mod support that allows you to create custom
multiplayer maps, custom tilesets, custom destructible objects,
custom items, custom attacks, custom character classes, and even
whole single player campaigns filled with unique characters, enemies,
dialog and cut scenes. Everything is stored in easy-to-edit .xml
files, so modding is a cinch.

The game also comes with a full-featured map editor
to make creating new battles fast and simple. Create your own, or
download someone else's: Telepath Tactics supports all of the above.

There is a lot more I could say about the game. Rather than talk your ear off, however, I will direct you to the latest draft of the Telepath Tactics manual with more (and more detailed) information on how the game works.

WHERE IS TELEPATH TACTICS AT IN ITS DEVELOPMENT?

Every single thing you read in the section above is currently in-game and working. There is no question about whether this project is too ambitious to complete: it isn't. The lion's share of the really tough stuff is already done. I just need more resources to give the game all the content and polish it needs.

SO, WHAT DO YOU NEED $25,500 FOR?

I've crunched some numbers, and $25,500 is the bare minimum amount of money it will take to finish Telepath Tactics to my satisfaction. (Please note that I am not counting wages for myself in this figure. I don't want a salary; I just want the money to get this thing done right.)

Here are the things your contribution will fund:

Hiring a sound designer to create all of the sound effects for every last button click, movement, attack, character death, item usage, and action in the game. Estimated cost: $12,000

Hiring a composer to flesh out the game's soundtrack with more music. Estimated cost: $4,000

Hiring artists to create more art: tilesets, destructible objects, character portraits, NPC sprites, and a second gender for each character class. Estimated cost: $4,000

Now, if you're good at math, you might be scratching your head right now. "Craig," you might say, "that's only $23,000. What is the last $2,500 for?" Good eye. The last $2,500 is to cover the estimated 10% cut that Amazon and Kickstarter take from whatever we raise. (For instance: if we raise $25,500.00, I estimate that these guys will take a $2,550 cut; that leaves just about $23,000, the amount I need to cover the expenses listed above.)

*Publicity is important to the game: it means more people for you to
play against in multiplayer, and more people creating single player
campaigns for you to play. Trust me, you want this!

NEW! An alternate $30 reward tier that substitutes the game's soundtrack in place of a postcard.

At $40, you'll get everything in the $30 Postcard tier and your name will appear in the game's credits!

BONUS: Everyone who pledges at or above $40 will receive a free copy of Telepath Psy Arena 2, an addictive tournament-style tactics game with team management, challenge matches, randomly generated training battles, and 10 leagues filled with fights that will test your tactical skill!

At $50, you'll get everything in the $40 tier, plus early access to the game's map editor so you can start making battles and campaigns right away!

NEW! Digital all-in! At $60, get the game, early access, digital art, your name in the credits, the map editor, the soundtrack, a 2nd copy of the game for a friend, AND the awesome 30-track soundtrack to Telepath RPG: Servants of God!

At $100, you'll get to add a name to the game's database of multiplayer character names! (I reserve the right to veto inappropriate submissions.)

BONUS: Everyone who pledges at or above $100 will also now receive a free copy of my last game, Telepath RPG: Servants of God,
a Middle East steampunk tactical wRPG about oppression, democracy, God,
and the nature of knowledge. That game normally costs $25 all on its
own, so this is a pretty killer value!

At $125, you get a limited-edition signed version of the Telepath Tactics poster! (Who knows: maybe it'll be worth something someday?)

At $150, you'll not only get to name a character in multiplayer, you'l also be listed as a Producer in the game's credits!

At $200, you'll get to chat with me on Skype for an hour on any topic(s) of your choice. Want game design advice? Want beard-trimming tips? Want to argue over which Monty Python film was best? It's up to you! (Plus, you'll have my Skype username forever,

At $300, I will immortalize you by incorporating you into the game's official single player campaign as an NPC!

At $350, you will not only be an NPC, but you will have a dramatic scene with plot significance! (We'll work with you to decide the circumstances: death, romance, a narrow escape, etc.)At $400, you will not only be an NPC, but you will have a dramatic sce

At $500, you'll get to chat with me, the developer, on Skype for one hour on any topic(s) of your choice. Want game design advice? Want beard-trimming tips? Want to argue over which Monty Python film was best? It's up to you!

At $500, be an NPC+, plus you can choose to name an island in the Dundar Archipelago, where Telepath Tactics takes place! This island will persist in future games and become part of the official canon, so choose wisely! (I reserve the right to veto dumb n

At $1000, you will appear in the official campaign as a villainous boss character that the player has to defeat! (If I were contributing to this campaign, I'd totally pick this one. Just sayin'.)

At $2000, you'll appear in-game as an actual playable character that the player recruits into his or her army! We'll work with you to decide your character's backstory, personality, and combat abilities. Pretty awesome.

At $5000, you can work with me to design a battle in the official campaign! You'll also be credited as an Assistant Designer.

At $5000, you can instead choose to work with me to design a totally new multiplayer game mode! Here, too, you'll be credited as an Assistant Designer.

At $10,000, pick any tier; plus, I will take you out for an awesome evening with all the best food and drinks I know of around Chicago! (Free bonus: get me drunk enough, and I will totally dish dirt on the Octodad team.)

Finally, as mentioned above, we have a top-up option! Add $9 to your current pledge, and you'll get a discounted second copy of Telepath Tactics to give to a friend!

WHO IS THIS MYSTERIOUS AND HANDSOME DEVELOPER, ANYWAY?

I'm Craig Stern, the guy behind the company Sinister Design. (You also might know me as the creator of IndieRPGs.com, but I consider myself a game developer first and foremost.)

I've been designing board games and card games since I was a child, and I've been creating video games for more than half a decade. Over that time, I've put out a whole slew of turn-based strategy RPGs. Those games were pretty good, but I consider them all a dry run: Telepath Tactics is the real deal. Telepath Tactics is the culmination of years of carefulthought and design work. I am not messing around with this game: I am gunning to create the most elegant, comprehensive, tactically deep strategy role-playing game in existence, and to then give it over to you, the community, to extend as you see fit.

Please contribute to make Telepath Tactics happen; you'll have my sincere gratitude, and one excellent turn-based tactics game to show for it.

Risks and challenges

Game design, in general, is an area fraught with risks. If you've paid any attention to the world of game development, you probably know about all of these already: going over time, going over budget, having your programmer or artist suddenly leave, etc. I'll just briefly address each of these:

1) I constantly tweet and blog about my progress while I'm developing, so if it's going to miss the estimated release date, you'll know well in advance. I'll try to avoid having this happen, of course.

2) If the game goes over budget, that'll be my fault. Therefore, if that happens, I will make up the difference out of my own pocket.

3) There is always a risk when working with contract artists. However, over the years, I've built up a core group of folks that I know are both talented and dependable--the chances of them running off and not doing the work are quite low.

Meanwhile, I am my own programmer, so there is zero chance of someone taking off and leaving me with code I can't read or use. I do not like to leave projects unfinished; it's just my personality. I stuck with my last game (Telepath RPG: Servants of God) for more than four years, then released it when it was done. Unless I am abducted by government agents or run over by a truck, Telepath Tactics is going to be completed. Period.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $60 or more
About $60

DIGITAL ALL-IN. Get the game, get the digital art, get early access, get the map editor, get the game's soundtrack, get a second copy of the game to give to a friend, AND get the awesome 30-track soundtrack to Telepath RPG: Servants of God on top of all that!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $100 or more
About $100

NAME A CHARACTER. All of the $75-and-below rewards, plus name a character in multiplayer! (Submit any character name of your choice, within reason, to be included within the game's random name generator.)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $500 or more
About $500

NAME AN ISLAND. All of the "BE AN NPC+" rewards, plus you also get to name one of the islands in the Dundar Archipelago (within reason). This will become part of the lore of the Telepath series, and will remain the island's name in all games going forward!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $2,000 or more
About $2,000

BE A PLAYABLE CHARACTER. All of the $75-tier rewards, plus appear in the single player campaign as a unique, recruitable character in the player's army! (We'll work with you to decide your personality, strengths, weaknesses, and back story.)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $5,000 or more
About $5,000

GAME DESIGNER (SINGLE PLAYER). All of the $75-tier rewards, plus help design a mission in the official single player campaign! Come up with an idea, then work directly with Craig Stern to develop the location, the design and character dialog; you'll be listed as an Assistant Designer in the game's credits.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $5,000 or more
About $5,000

GAME DESIGNER (MULTIPLAYER). All of the $75-tier rewards, plus help design a new multiplayer game mode! Come up with an idea, then work directly with Craig Stern to develop the mechanics, and get listed as an Assistant Designer in the game's credits.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $10,000
About $10,000

THE GRAND TOUR. All rewards from any reward tier of your choice, plus Craig Stern will personally fly you out to Chicago and take you out for an evening of food and drinks at all of his favorite spots around town. (For contributors outside of the U.S., please add $3,000 for the cost of international flights.)